Zone of the Enders : The 2nd Runner

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is Konami’s 2003 PlayStation 2 action game, released in Japan as Anubis: Zone of the Enders. It continues the science-fiction story of the original Zone of the Enders two years later, but shifts the focus to rapid Orbital Frame combat. Players take the controls of Jehuty, an exceptionally capable humanoid combat machine, in a conflict involving the military force BAHRAM and the future of Mars. The sequel was developed and published by Konami, with Hideo Kojima serving as producer and Shuyo Murata directing.

The story follows Dingo Egret, a former BAHRAM soldier working as a miner on Callisto. An encounter with the hidden Orbital Frame Jehuty pulls him back into the organization’s war. After refusing an offer from BAHRAM leader Ridley “Nohman” Hardiman, Dingo is badly wounded; agent Ken Marinaris has him connected to Jehuty’s life-support system. With the craft’s artificial intelligence, A.D.A., as a constant presence, Dingo and his allies head toward Mars to oppose BAHRAM’s plans. The campaign also reunites returning protagonist Leo Stenbuck with Jehuty and brings the rival frame Anubis into the central conflict.

From a third-person viewpoint, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner PlayStation 2 gameplay is built around flying through spacious battle arenas, locking onto targets, and moving quickly between opponents. Jehuty has close-range attacks, ranged fire, defensive options, and a boost that makes positioning as important as raw damage. Encounters range from formations of mechanical enemies to large combat vehicles and duels against other Orbital Frames. The camera frames Jehuty and the selected opponent during combat, helping the player track high-speed movement while keeping the action readable.

Progression is organized as a sequence of story stages rather than an overworld route. Defeating bosses adds sub-weapons to Jehuty’s arsenal, while Metatron pickups can restore the frame. Missions also receive performance ranks, inviting players to improve their results after finishing the story. Alongside the main campaign, the game includes extra missions and a versus mode. One especially unusual unlockable is Zoradius, a short 3D tribute to Konami’s Gradius series in which the Vic Viper takes on enemies and imagery associated with that arcade shooter.

The sequel expands on the first game’s mechanics with the ability to engage several enemies at once and manipulate parts of the environment, including using objects as improvised weapons. Its linear structure keeps the emphasis on consecutive set pieces, battles, and animated story scenes. Character and mechanical designs help define its futuristic world, with Yoji Shinkawa contributing major mecha designs and Kazuma Kaneko designing the character Lloyd and the Orbital Frame Inhert. Jehuty’s sleek design, its transformations in combat, and the contrast with Anubis make the frame rivalry a major visual and dramatic thread.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner later returned in the Zone of the Enders HD Collection for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which paired the PlayStation 2 games in remastered form. Konami subsequently released Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS for PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, and PC in 2018. That version added a native 4K presentation, reworked audio, optional first-person VR play, training features, and additional control and accessibility options. These later editions preserved the original game’s core campaign while making one of the series’ defining mecha action adventures available on newer hardware.